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Italian Landscapes
"The outer appearances of landscape and architecture
[in Italy] are so engaging, especially in southern Italy, that I felt no need
to express more personal ideas."
(Escher, in Escher, 1989, p. 54)
Escher's land of inspiration, in his youth, was southern Italy. He devoted
the first part of his life as an artist to expressing his enchantment with
the Italian landscape. He first visited the country in the spring of 1921,
returned twice the following summer, and settled in Rome in 1923. He travelled
and sketched in Italy regularly until 1937, taking off each spring by train
or boat to discover a new region: Malta, Sicily, Corsica, Calabria in southern
Italy, or nearby Spain.
Italian Landscapes
Artists have been fascinated with vedute,
views of Italian cities and landscape, since the eighteenth century, when
wealthy travellers sought to acquire works of art recording a particularly
enthralling stop on their "Grand Tour" of Europe. Twentieth-century Italy
has remained a source of inspiration for artists, owing to her many attractions,
including art treasures from antiquity, magnificent architecture, and breathtaking
landscapes.
Escher explored every corner of the most remote regions of southern Italy
on foot, sometimes taking a mule to carry his baggage. He was particularly
captivated by Calabria, with its boundless panoramas punctuated by jumbles
of houses built centuries ago.
Italian Landscapes
Escher's study of spatial relationships through his depiction of the Italian landscape undeniably had an impact on his later work. Although he was to focus his subsequent efforts on expressing his inner visions, he never lost his affection for Italy's towns and countryside. Due to the rise of Fascism, and also for the sake of his ailing sons, he left Italy in 1935 and moved to Switzerland, where the mountain air was more healthful.
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